Appalachian Blessings

Hands Off My Circadian Clock

We’re now on Daylight Savings Time–or “fast time” as my grandmother called it (since that first day just flies by!). Bleh. My circadian clock is firmly meshed in a standard 24-hour cycle. Yesterday, someone robbed me of an hour (hmmm, I think that was an hour of writing time!).

Tips for dealing with the lag created by the time change include setting your clock ahead in 15 minute increments for four days prior to the change. I have a hard enough time keeping up with my schedule without changing a standing 10 a.m. appointment to 10:15, then 10:30 . . . Another tip is to go to bed an hour early the night before. Done. But it’s DARK when I get up now, so I’m not fooling anybody. I’m just well rested AND out-of-sync.

Studies even show that the incidence of heart attacks rise the day after we “spring forward” and decrease after we “fall back.” Can’t we leave the clock alone for the good of our collective health?!?

I know, soon enough I’ll be adjusted and will enjoy more time each evening for dog walking, writing, hiking, or just sitting on the porch. But I still don’t like the time change. Hopefully, one day I’ll live like my great-grandma Jane. She got up when it was light and went to bed when it was dark, letting her body tell her what was needed.

Our bodies are smart. Waaaay smarter than whoever came up with Daylight Savings Time.